Support for Arkansas Week provided by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the Arkansas Times and Little Rock Public Radio had a look at every one of them.

Thanks very much for being with us.

The progress and the challenges facing the central Arkansas metropolitan area, they are outlined in the latest report from a multi area planning district.

And we'll go there in a moment.

First to a service common in the Little Rock Metro area and northwest Arkansas, the metros across the state, Jonesboro, etc.. Not so common everywhere else in the state.

We're talking about high speed broadband, essential to commerce, economic development, education, health care, even law enforcement.

It is a necessity and not simply a nicety.

The state has moved closer now to accessing as much as $1,000,000,000 for expanding broadband to all of Arkansas.

And that's our focus now.

We're joined by Glenn Howey, director of the state's Broadband Office.

Thanks very much for coming back and joining us for an update.

We're closer.

What is that?

How close?

How close is close?

Thanks, Steve.

Steve, for having me today.

You know, we hope with the most recent approval of our initial proposal, volume two documents, relative to the $1 billion bid program, we anticipate opening up the next round of broadband infrastructure grants before the close of the year.

And so we're really excited about that.

I know for folks at home who were saying what exactly is an initial proposal volume to federal jargon, all it really means is the infrastructure grant program plan.

So us commerce through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has officially approved and signed off on Arkansas's plan to go out and award broadband infrastructure grants utilizing that $1 billion allocation that we have received and we hope to open it up before the end of the year.

My let's say my cousin Benny lives 14 miles outside of when or wherever, and he's sitting there aching to get high speed.

When is he going to get it?

Yeah, that's what we tell him.

Yeah, that's a great question.

And we get it all the time.

Folks call in to our broadband hotline and ask that question nearly every day.

You know, you look statewide, there's about 85,000 homes and businesses and community anchor situations.

Really, what does that mean?

Families, business owners and and others out there that still lack access to Internet at all today.

The access that they do have is is very poor.

And they that location has not been subject to a grant to date.

So there's about 85,000 locations across the state in every county of the state that we're going to go and issue a grant award for beginning later this year.

I think what's interesting in this particular version of the grant program, as opposed to before, we can't leave any of those 85,000 locations out of this program.

So we have to make a grant award for every single location across the state, including your cousin Benny, who lives 14 miles outside of when when exactly that will take place as a result of this program, it has been our edict sort of from the office that we want these projects completed in two years or less once the grant agreements are executed.

So if we look forward into completing this particular application round for grants sometime next year and execute those grant agreements, that would be 25.

So a two year timeframe, there would be 27.

So we hope by the end of 2028 that Arkansas as a as a fully connected state, the target or the objective is the concept of universal service, then correct?

Look, no matter where where Benny is or anyone else in the state, let's say 20 outside of Jacksonville, rather, of Jasper, that's the thing, whether you're on top of the mountain or in the valley or in the valley, no matter where you are in this state, we have to go and make sure that you have Internet access available to you.

Doesn't mean that you're going to subscribe and if you don't want to, But we have to make sure that the access is there for you.

And that's what's going to happen through this next round.

What is is the challenge fiscal or is it signals logical or a combination thereof?

Sure.

There's several variables that that, you know, lead to the fact that we still have 85,000 locations in Arkansas with very poor access or no access at all and have not been subject to a grant award to date.

Obviously, those would include the topography of the land, Right.

There's varying topography in Arkansas.

And so some areas of the state, it's very easy to put fiber in the ground.

Other places, it's not so easy in the mountains.

Density of locations can impact financial modeling for for providers as they think through their financial models and whether or not locations can be attractive to them for a financial standpoint and adoption rates.

Not everyone subscribes to the Internet, even though it's built out to them.

You know, typically providers, if they go out and build broadband infrastructure in a new part of the state and they get a 30% or 40% take rate, that's a great take rate for them in subscriptions.

And so varying variables that that impact why there's 85,000 locations left.

But in this particular program, no matter how much it costs, no matter where that particular family lives and chooses to work and play, we have to get them connected.

And that's where we're going to do the interface between the feds and the state, the implementation of it.

Sure.

Multistage, obviously a multistep process, unnecessarily so.

Yeah.

Look, it's been it's been very relatively burdensome, I think, for for a lot of states across the country, you know, where where Arkansas sits compared to kind of the country overall, and especially in the region of the southeast.

We're sitting in a in a great spot, I think, in the bid program moving forward.

But, yeah, you know, this is a program that was part of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

We initially the state did after I arrived, put in sort of an initial planning information to the feds back in 2022, and now we're at the end of 2024, finally getting to the spot where we can hopefully launch a grant round before the end of the year.

So it's been a multi-year, a very long process.

But Arkansas, again, compared to the country in the southeast region, we're very well positioned now at the even now or at the at the conclusion on how public and how private what's the mix are.

Will there be continue to be a mix?

Yeah.

You look at the types of providers that we anticipate applying in this program and winning grant awards for this program.

We're going to have a mix.

We expect a very good mix from small providers to midsize to large to the electric cooperative subsidiaries that have been very active in broadband in Arkansas.

Honestly, you know, we feel that when we look at the 85,000 locations across the state, you're going to have a great mix of companies that win awards to serve those folks.

Now, the 85 we've talked about, the 85,000 repeatedly, one assumes that we're talking about a less than densely populated area, basically rural Arkansas.

Sure.

Look, this is the next iteration of the grant program in Arkansas.

There's a reason these locations are left.

We're getting into less dense areas, more expensive areas.

And so the cost per location in these grants has slowly increased over time.

And so you're right.

You know, there's a reason locations are left to date.

They may not have made so much financial sense for providers to go in.

That's why we have to do a capital outlay grant program like we are to make sure that folks are connected and we're going to get it done.

Okay.

Well, let's use a couple examples that just popped up out of Maya.

Jasper may have great internet, but dare not and wind may have great Internet, but Parkyn may not just up the road or around the park and may not.

Where is the gap there?

Is it in the private sector or.

Yeah, you look in delivery and some folks in Washington, they may even say, you know what?

What is broadband exactly?

And how is that different from the Internet?

What does all that mean really, all the broadband stands for?

It is high bandwidth, right?

So high speed Internet currently that's defined by the FCC at the federal level, the federal communications Commission, kind of technical here would say it's 100 megabits per second download and 20 megabits per second upload.

That particular kind of line of demarcation between what is high speed Internet and what is not has changed over time.

It used to be what they call Tin one and then it was 25 three and now it's 100 by 20.

This particular program, the $1 billion bid program in Arkansas, uses the 100 by 20 sort of line of demarcation.

And so folks today that have access to nothing or what they do have access to is less than that one or two by 20 speed are more than likely.

We think 90% or higher are going to have access to fiber technology that'll give them gig symmetrical access.

And so in short, you're right there.

There's there are large differences and availability of high speed Internet from from town to town and sometimes from neighbor to neighbor, depending on how complex this can get.

And so it is it's sort of an all of state issue that requires an all of state effort to solve this.

And again, where we think we're making great progress.

Anything terribly unique about Arkansas situation in terms of its coverage gaps?

Not necessarily.

I think that the issues that we face here, you know, are similar to other states.

We have it easier than some, but not as difficult as others.

And so, again, having a state with with multiple variations of topography from the Delta in the East to the the piney woods of the south in the mountains in north and west, the issues that we face here are very similar compared to the country in the region.

I think, you know, we need to remember that that yes, although from 2021 to 2024, Arkansas actually led the country in increased broadband connectivity at 9% in the second half of 2023, we had the sixth largest reduction in the number of unconnected and under connected homes, although we've we're making great strides as a state in broadband connectivity.

There are still folks out there that are hurting.

There are still folks out there that don't have the connectivity at all or the connectivity that they need.

And that's, you know, one of the top priorities of of Governor Sanders administration.

And we're going to charge for forward with every sense of urgency that we can when the cable has been laid on the fiber optic, when once the the mechanics are in place.

Sure.

Can Arkansas, will it be affordable?

Yeah.

Look, affordability is one of what we call our three pillars of broadband in the state office.

You know, your first pillar being access or infrastructure, your second pillar being affordability and your third pillar being opportunity.

Right.

So we can make Arkansas the most wired state in the country.

And one fiber to every single home and business in Arkansas.

But if some of our folks can't afford it, right, that's an issue.

And we have to attack that.

And so what we're trying to do through the mechanisms within the grant program itself, it's a very free market, very competitive framing of how we built this program out moving forward in the grant process.

And so one of the things that Internet service providers will be scored on when they apply in this program is affordability.

So 25% of the overall score when these applications come in is based on affordability.

So our providers are incentivized in the grant application process to lower.

They make prices for consumers.

When the project is complete, the more points they get, the more likely they are to win a grant.

And so through that mechanism, we said we should see prices come down for folks.

What what kind of feedback are you getting now, the reaction from residents?

Yeah, people are excited.

Look, last year, you know, we embarked on a 75 county tour across the state to talk about this issue and get people prepared and excited and sort of have a grass roots movement around broadband.

We visited all 75 counties in less than four months last year.

It was a lot of fun as a result of that outreach.

Some of our homework to local grassroots folks was, Look, guys, we need every county in Arkansas to form a county broadband committee and work with our office.

As a result of that, we have 54 of our 75 counties actually form official county broadband committees and turn in those lists to our office.

We get on the call every other week.

So so every two weeks we have a call with our stakeholders and do a virtual call and let everybody know what's going on and very transparent and get the latest updates.

Look, people are excited about the broadband movement in Arkansas.

We have one of the healthiest broadband ecosphere items in the in the country.

When you put together the Arkansas Connectivity Coalition, which is a group of about 15 very strong, very powerful nonprofits in Arkansas that are dedicated to this movement.

When you look at the fact that we have 54 of our 75 counties have formed broadband committees to work with our team, you look at the fact of where we are in the rankings the last several years with the momentum in Arkansas, broadband is tremendous.

We don't lose sight of the fact that again, people still need to get connected and we're working on that.

But know that the broadband ecosystem in Arkansas we think is truly the envy of the nation.

Got to leave it there until you come back again.

Absolutely.

All right.

Had to be better now.

I thanks very much for being well.

Thank you, Steve.

And we'll be right back.

And we are back.

The announcement certainly newsworthy, noteworthy, etc., more than $17 million in surface transportation grants to local governments in the four county core of central Arkansas.

That money, federal dollars distributed through Metropolitan Washington's designated development partner here.

And the distribution came as Metro Plan released its annual report, which outlines a four element regional energy and environmental plan.

And we'll try to get to as much of that as we can.

We're joined now by Casey Covington, the executive director of Metro Plan.

Welcome, sir.

Thank you.

Thank you for having us.

Why don't we start with 30 crossing?

Because that is the big very conspicuous one to so many hundreds of thousands of Arkansans.

Right.

Well, we're, you know, excited to be seeing it near completion.

Just this week, I drove over the new bridge.

So certainly would like to congratulate the Department of Transportation for their work on that project and getting that done.

Also happy to report that that there's been a lot of discussion of I-30 installing County, but that's another project that, you know, is going to be wrapping up here in the next couple of months.

Now, one thing I'm excited about is we're currently working on a smooth commute campaign where we're asking citizens to come to us and identify where they see congestion like 30 crossing.

15 years ago was brought up and as part of that, that helps us as our planning responsibilities to ensure that we have an efficient and effective transportation system for central Arkansas.

So appreciate the partner that we have at the Department of Transportation and others, and we encourage people to go to our website and help us identify where congestion is in central Arkansas and how they would help us solve it.

One more on 30 Crossing before we move on.

And that has the thinking about the the overall impact of 38 crossing shifted Now that it's moving, it's changed in any way since, you know, since it's so near completion.

I think you're seeing development.

I was in the East Village just a few days ago and there's so much going over there just between, you know, downtown and the airport.

And you're seeing all those apartments that have come in.

There's a new marina.

There's a lot of entertainment opportunities, breweries, other types of of things.

And I think we're seeing that as a result of 30 crossing and opening up some development opportunity over there.

And I think we're going to continue to see that as a result of really just overall growth of the city of Little Rock and Central Arkansas and then part of that project being completed and people looking to invest funds in that area of Little Rock.

Positive still outweighing the negative in your view?

Definitely.

Okay.

Onto the surface grants that you just announced, almost, what, $18 million that was spread out over four counties there.

Yeah.

So Metro plan, we are the Metropolitan Planning Organization for Central Arkansas, so we do regional transportation planning.

But being a big MPO, we receive close to 17 to $18 million annually a year of tax dollars that go to Washington.

They come back to the state and they end up at Metro Plan and we take that money and we award that to our member jurisdictions to complete important transportation projects.

And so that's what we've just announced, that 17 and a half million dollars.

A couple of projects I'll mention, one of them is Congo Road and Benton.

That's a project I've talked to Mayor Farmer about and he's been actively working on that corridor.

We've done a couple of intersections and it's an old county road.

It really is unsafe.

It doesn't have any active transportation, sidewalk options.

And so that's a project that we're looking forward to funding.

It's a project that the city really doesn't have the funds to do it or would take ten or 15 years together, that amount of funds.

So when we can come in and provide 80% of the funding for a project like that, it's exciting and we're excited to be able to help our jurisdictions.

And yes, all four counties did reasonably well under this.

Yeah, we certainly try to try to make sure we have a competitive application process so this jurisdiction applied and you know, way those projects against each other.

But we certainly saw a nice representation in the city of Cabot.

We have Kirsten action.

That's a project that is another project that's really grown as the city of Cabot has grown and really is in need of being improved.

Looking at Chico Road and helping Pulaski County, Little Rock has helped and growing in that southwest part of the city of Little Rock, City of Maumelle.

We're helping with a project that is actually part of our Greenway system.

It's helping create active transportation.

It's encouraging development in that area and want to talk about that?

Yeah, because that is a big part of the focus anyway, in the near to the long term for that matter.

In terms of Metro plans, outlook.

Right.

So really about four years ago under the leadership of Tap Towns or the Metro Plan Board, your predecessor, my predecessor and I was there at that time as well.

We looked at a bunch of regions and recognized that if we are going to be competitive, we really have to provide opportunities for people to get out and be outdoor, recreational.

They're looking for bike facilities, they're looking for opportunities to go hiking.

We'll talk about that as we get into our EPA grant later today.

And so as part of that, our board committed to spending up to $55 million to build out a regional greenway network.

We hear projects like the Southwest Trail that will connect Little Rock to Pulaski County, but there's also parts of that corridor that connect through Sherwood up to Cabot, as well as here in Conway.

So that's proceeding.

We saw that as part of our projects, particularly for Saline County.

One thing that's going on there is the Old River Bridge.

Bridge.

It was built in from Friday in 1900.

At this point, it's close to 150 years old and that project is currently underway.

They're reconstructing that bridge.

But the funding that we are, which are tied to the city and county as well as the city of Benton, will able to take that project and extend that trail.

Other projects there with the Southwest Trail in Pulaski County, there's about a six or seven segment mile segment that's under construction.

And so there's a lot of progress that's currently going on on that regional Greenway, particularly in the Southwest corridor.

But again, we mentioned Maumelle and trying to make that connection between Little Rock and Maumelle.

That's a project that we are currently working with an engineer to design, and Sherwood is very actively working on its powerline trail and Conway Conway received a large grant from federal transportation calls to raise grant of $25 million a few years ago to build active transportation in the city.

And we're helping them make that a reality.

And and and they continue.

Maybe what I'll be wrong in saying a renewed focus or an intensified focus anyway on energy, environmental sustainability and development.

Green in of our right and so metro plan last year we were really fortunate to be working with the state, and EPA provided states an opportunity to develop a plan, a metro plan.

Northwest Arkansas, in the city of Fort Smith, started working with the state and we received a portion of those funds to develop a energy and environment and innovation plan that looks at what is sustainability for Arkansas, how do we preserve our recreational areas and how do we ensure that the high quality of water, the air quality that we have here enjoyed for many years into the future?

What I'm extremely excited about is, you know, that was the work last year.

Earlier this year, just this summer, we announced a $100 million EPA grant, the largest grant in our region of the state, and it's going to help all three of our regions, help make investments that are going to help our air quality, our transportation alternative.

So for central Arkansas, you know, we're looking to preserve 450 acres of property that we can put into some type of conservation easements and make sure that those are preserved for the future.

Those have economic opportunities, but they also have environmental benefits as well.

Looking at trees, we know that we have a number of trees.

Trees are also good for the environment.

And so taking some of those areas that have been degraded and in improve those three, while them that may be going too far.

But no, no Or is it?

It's not you know, you talk of rewiring.

We're also working on streetlights.

So we have $5 million that we're going to be awarding to our members to update streetlights that are old, streetlights that are condensed lights to LED there more efficient.

They're better for your eyes.

They're better to stay on so that they don't go off and, you know, create some some issues that we have when we have dark areas.

But I'm also proud of Metro Plan and I'm proud of our counterpart in northwest Arkansas.

They're in the northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission and the city of Fort Smith for recognizing that this was an opportunity that we could have competed against each other.

And, you know, there's no guarantee that any of us would have won.

But we said we've been working together, we've been working with the state.

Appreciate the state's administration for bringing us in and saying we can help Arkansas.

And so through that and coming together, we won that $100 million.

And, you know, my personal opinion is that if we had all gone by ourselves, I'm not sure that any of us would have won anything.

But by working together with the best of Arkansas and our different metropolitan regions, we're going to contribute to the success of Arkansas for many years by preserving those really critical habitats that we have and building active transportation.

Yeah, about a minute remaining in the broadcast, what do you is there do you sense a a shift in attitudes in not only among local governments and their managers, boards, mayors, judges, but in the corporate excuse me, the corporate community as well.

Regarding efficiency and sustainability and environmental imperatives?

Absolutely.

We certainly had the support of a number of people in this application.

But as a local elected official think people are looking at how do we attract people and how do we maintain those, you know, people that are coming out of college because in reality people are moving around.

We're not really increasing our population a tremendous amount.

And so we're competing against Austin, we're competing against Dallas, we're competing against Memphis, we're competing against Greenville, South Carolina.

And when we can create places that people want to come, they want to work, but they also want to spend time in recreation and enjoying our outdoors that we have in Arkansas.

That is good for the state of Arkansas.

And that's what this grant is going to help us achieve.

And got to endothermic those who are simply out of time.

You will come back soon.

Absolutely.

We'd love to come back.

All right.

Good.

Thanks very much.

And as always, we thank you for joining us and see you next week.

Support for Arkansas Week provided by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

The Arkansas Times and Little Rock Public Radio.